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Formed in 1978, this scientific support group assembles, tests, calibrates, and prepares floats for studies of ocean properties and current systems. After deployment, the Float Group also processes the data that scientists interpret to assess the impact of the oceans on our ever changing planet.

View the locations of WHOI's floats being used as part of the ARGO project to observe the ocean and to predict climate change. See their launch positions, track the paths they have followed, and pinpoint the locations of detailed water column profiles.

The purpose of the center was to create a consolidated data set usable by scientists for statistical studies and incorporation into ocean models. The intent was that the collected data from the World Ocean Circulation Experiment be the best and cleanest available. Data was transferred several years ago to the World Data Center A, but background information is still available on the WHOI site.

In the early 1980s, a small group at WHOI dedicated itself to using acoustic floats to measure ocean currents. Over 14 years, more than 150 SOFAR floats were tracked by the group. The team was later involved in the development and use of RAFOS floats, of which more than 400 have been deployed.

The ASL research program emphasizes exploratory ocean measurements using contemporary tools and techniques. ASL uses autonomous systems to describe and quantify oceanic processes which occur on time and space scales inaccessible with traditional methods.

Part of the WHOI Department of Physical Oceanography Department, this lab group was established to establish a pool of shared use instrumentation; to facilitate access to that instrumentation; to develop a support structure to maintain and update the shared use pool; and to improve the ability of the department to support, maintain, and recruit the skilled personnel essential to the use of the instrumentation.

Founded in 1996, P.I.G. lab is a team of engineering consultants who work on everything from production of individual components to complete system design. The members of the group have formal training in Mechanical Desktop, an AutoCAD-based parametric modeling and drafting. Modeling techniques are standardized, and part and assembly models can readily be shared. An emphasis on solid documentation is central to the idea that their product is not merely finished parts, but sound engineering

This interdisciplinary group began working on the problem of quantifying ocean mixing processes in the 1990s. Understanding the dynamics of ocean mixing is essential for obtaining correct estimates of global ocean circulation, which effect our understanding of phenomena associated with climate change. One of the group?s significant discoveries was that mixing processes are enhanced near areas of rough bathymetry.

WHOI is the world's leading non-profit oceanographic research organization. Our mission is to explore and understand the ocean and to educate scientists, students, decision-makers, and the public.